US General: ISIS Recruiting from Caribbean, Could Enter US Via Caribbean Nations, South America

A top American general says that 100 would-be militants have already left small Caribbean countries to fight with Islamic State extremists in Syria – and could potentially get across the US border when they return home.

Marine Gen. John F. Kelly, chief of the US Southern Command, made the remarks at a Pentagon briefing with reporters on Thursday. He said that small Caribbean nations – such as Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname – as well as Venezuela are concerned about the militants returning home to conduct terror operations because they don't have the ability to deal with the problem.

The general said that while the number of people leaving to fight alongside militants is small, the US takes for granted a functioning legal justice system, the FBI, and layers of clean police officers – which may absent in some of the Caribbean countries. When recruits return, he said, they can’t be monitored or checked. Once back in their country, Kelly said the recruits could travel freely between nations and potentially get across the border into America.